Daily Archives: May 17, 2017

Arlo Guthrie’s church was extensively used in his 1968 film Alice’s Restaurant, which became kind of a hippie-era cult classic. It may still show up on some cable station now and then. According to Arlo’s version of the story, which he tells in his long narrative song of the same name, it’s supposed to be true.

The film has one brief scene, of New Haven train #138 at Stockbridge.

Berkshire historians know that there never was an “Alice’s Restaurant” — not by that name anyway! Its most recent reincarnation was as Theresa’s; used to be known as The Back Door.

Old photos show as many as five tracks across from the church. This is where the State Line branch went off the main line. All freight and passenger business was done here. The lines paralled up to Rising or Dalys, where the branch went off to State Line. There is…

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16 December – Douglas MacArthur was promoted to Five-Star General. It seemed that General MacArthur’s promotion to General of the Army would require assistance from many sides. It posed a problem in the respect that there was no such object as a five-star insignia in existence in the Pacific. A clever Filipino silversmith created one from a miscellaneous collection of Dutch, Australian and Filipino coins.

USS Langley (CVL-27), Typhoon Cobra

17 December – Typhoon Cobra hit the Philippine Islands. TF-38 was caught off-guard and the destroyers, USS Hull, Mongham and Spence were sunk and 22 other vessels received damage. While 150 aircraft were blown off the decks of the carriers, more than 750 sailors drowned.

19 December – Adm. Nimitz was made Commander-in-Chief of the US Pacific Fleet and Pacific Areas, thereby promoting him to Fleet Admiral of…

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One of the most interesting locations that railroads have been built to is Cape Cod. The road that operated to CapeCod was part of the New York, New Haven & Hartford.

The railroad era came to Cape Cod in 1848 when a road was built from Middleboro on the mainland to Sandwich on the Cape. It was built primarily to serve the Boston and Sandwich Glass Company. The Cape Cod Railroad extended itself to Hyannis in 1854 and after the Civil War the Cape Cod Central Railroad went on to Orleans and Wellfleet.

Passenger service became important by the end of the 19th Century as the Cape became a resort area.

The late 1950’s saw a sharp decline in passenger travel as automobiles became more popular (the Bourne and Sagamore bridges to Cape Cod were no where as overloaded as they are today).

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Living in Connecticut, I had no excuse NOT to visit the Valley Railroad in Essex. Even living in upstate New York, it is a place not to miss. The big feature of the Valley Railroad is the steam train ride.

The train runs from Essex to above Deep River and then backs to Deep River where boat passengers get on and off. The former branch line runs from Old Saybrook on Long Island Sound to Middletown (you guessed it – in the middle of the state).

The train ride is not the only attraction. Essex is also the location of the Connecticut Valley Railroad Museum.

The Connecticut Valley Railroad Association was established in 1968 to operate trains powered by steam over the New Haven Railroad. It is a non-profit organization which works closely with the for-profit Valley Railroad Company which owns the abandoned New Haven Valley Branch along the Connecticut…

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Recent Posts from Penney Vanderbilt: PenneyVanderbilt

Originally posted on PenneyVanderbilt: pgatour.com Ken Venturi interview with Ben Hogan 1983 Multiple courses lay claim to the title of “Hogan’s Alley,” but few can rival the role that Colonial Country Club played in the legend’s career. Not only did Hogan win five times at Colonial, which will host this week’s Fort Worth Invitational, but…

pgatour.com Ken Venturi interview with Ben Hogan 1983 Multiple courses lay claim to the title of “Hogan’s Alley,” but few can rival the role that Colonial Country Club played in the legend’s career. Not only did Hogan win five times at Colonial, which will host this week’s Fort Worth Invitational, but the course’s founder, Marvin […]

Originally posted on Penney Vanderbilt and KC Jones: All About Railroads: AM New York The MTA board will vote on a proposed pilot program Wednesday that would dramatically reduce LIRR ticket prices for 10 stations in Brooklyn and Queens, including Atlantic Terminal. Photo Credit: The MTA board will vote on a proposed pilot program Wednesday…

Originally posted on Penney Vanderbilt and KC Jones: All About Railroads: patch.com ? The MTA plans to run 16 additional trains around the weekday rush hours starting in November. NEW YORK, NY — The MTA plans to run 16 extra trains on four subway lines starting this fall to reduce wait times and crowding. The…

Originally posted on thekitchensgarden: After being rained on the day we were to bale and then all the next night, yesterday evening we finally got the hay baled and under cover. About one hundred bales are pretty good – a little wetter than they should be …… but I have stored them in the loft…

Originally posted on Perspectives on Life, the Universe and Everything: when the pen of a poor poet or a singer singing on the road create flowers with the most amazing smell the most beautiful colour fruits and berries melting in the mouth soothing all senses past, present, all tenses in a random unthought verse unseen…

Originally posted on Penney Vanderbilt and KC Jones: All About Railroads: In a word: history by JOSH FRUHLINGER Village Voice The New York City Subway is the lifeblood of the city, yet it seems perpetually embroiled in crisis; though it’s currently caught in a terrible backlog of deferred maintenance, the city can’t function without it, as…